#339- Stepping Into Consulting with Amber Buck Hamilton

Summary

Podcast Title: Nonprofit Lowdown
Episode: #339 - Stepping Into Consulting with Amber Buck Hamilton
Host: Rhea Wong
Guest: Amber Buck Hamilton
Release Date: May 26, 2025

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Introduction

In episode #339 of Nonprofit Lowdown, host Rhea Wong engages in an insightful conversation with Amber Buck Hamilton, a seasoned nonprofit fundraiser and the founder of Fig Leaf Development. Amber shares her journey from being a dedicated fundraising professional to establishing her own consulting firm, offering valuable lessons for those considering a similar path.

Amber's Background and Transition into Consulting

Amber begins by recounting her passion for fundraising, ignited during an internship with the Getty Museum in Los Angeles. Paired with an inspiring fundraiser, she realized her aptitude for securing funds and communicating an organization’s mission effectively.

“This is a job. This is something I can do. I can talk to people about organizations and why they're meaningful.”
— Amber Buck Hamilton [02:33]

Her decision to transition into consulting was driven by a desire to balance her professional ambitions with family priorities. As a mother of three, Amber felt that stepping out of a full-time role would allow her more time with her children without sacrificing her passion for fundraising.

“I wanted to honor my family and honor myself, too.”
— Amber Buck Hamilton [03:56]

Addressing Burnout in the Nonprofit Sector

The conversation delves into the prevalent issue of burnout among nonprofit professionals. Both Rhea and Amber highlight how unrealistic fundraising goals and inadequate support systems contribute to high turnover rates.

“7 out of 10 nonprofit people have said that they're actively looking for a new job.”
— Rhea Wong [06:03]

Amber emphasizes the importance of establishing robust structures and systems within organizations to support fundraisers effectively.

“When you step into an organization with such a high goal and expectation for fundraising, you need to have some structures and some systems in place.”
— Amber Buck Hamilton [06:07]

Importance of Systems and Structures in Fundraising

Amber discusses how the absence of proper systems can lead to fundraisers feeling overwhelmed and disengaged. She advocates for thoughtful onboarding processes and clear expectations to ensure that new hires can perform optimally without being burdened by existing organizational chaos.

“You can onboard them thoughtfully. Make it clear, here's what you need to hit and do along the way.”
— Amber Buck Hamilton [06:47]

Transitioning to Entrepreneurship: Overcoming Challenges

Stepping into consulting is portrayed as a significant leap, fraught with fears such as imposter syndrome and financial instability. Amber shares her personal struggles and the mental shift required to embrace entrepreneurship.

“I've been using this for 30 years. Then people will trust me to do the thing.”
— Amber Buck Hamilton [12:57]

She also highlights the importance of having a support system, including a supportive partner and a strong professional network, to navigate the uncertainties of starting a business.

Building Confidence and Managing Fear

Rhea and Amber explore strategies to overcome the fear of failure and the anxiety of stepping out on one’s own. Amber underscores the necessity of self-coaching and building confidence through small, deliberate actions.

“I've been successful. Why can't I do this now?”
— Amber Buck Hamilton [12:58]

Additionally, Amber points out the value of community and mentorship in providing the necessary support during the entrepreneurial journey.

Practical Steps to Start a Consulting Business

The discussion transitions into actionable advice for aspiring consultants. Key steps include:

1. Experimentation:
   Amber advises starting with side projects to test the waters without fully committing.

   “Let me just try. No one's saying that it has to be like fully in or fully out.”
   — Rhea Wong [15:08]

2. Gaining Confidence:
   Building expertise through continuous learning and embracing the learning curve.

   “It's always going to be a little bit messy, a little confusing, and ups and downs.”
   — Rhea Wong [16:00]

3. Community Building:
   Maintaining connections and seeking support from peers to prevent the isolation that can come with consulting.

   “Community build. Keep your community and make sure that you are staying connected with people.”
   — Amber Buck Hamilton [26:48]

4. Developing a Financial Plan:
   Creating a personal funding map to manage finances and alleviate fears related to inconsistent income.

   “I created literally my own funding map, I was what I have and what I'm projected to bring in for the end of the year.”
   — Amber Buck Hamilton [25:57]

5. Consistency and Communication:
   Being consistent in client interactions and maintaining clear, professional communication.

   “Be consistent in how you communicate with people because you're the one leading the meeting.”
   — Amber Buck Hamilton [30:39]

Valuable Lessons and Advice

Amber imparts two crucial lessons for budding consultants:

1. Build and Maintain Community:
   A strong support network is essential to navigate the challenges of consulting without feeling isolated.

2. Adopt an Abundance Mindset:
   Embracing the belief that there are ample opportunities and that success is not a zero-sum game.

   “Keep that abundance mindset and center for yourself and align that with your values.”
   — Amber Buck Hamilton [27:28]

Rhea adds that mindset plays a more significant role than tactical strategies in achieving success, likening the entrepreneurial journey to solving a puzzle rather than facing personal failures.

“When you approach it with that kind of mentality, it's just a puzzle that you're solving.”
— Rhea Wong [27:37]

Conclusion and Final Thoughts

As the conversation wraps up, Amber encourages listeners to take actionable steps towards consulting by defining their purpose, building a clear business model, and engaging with their network.

“Start talking to people. I'm doing this thing. And you'll be surprised how quickly things start to come and give you an opportunity to step out and do them.”
— Amber Buck Hamilton [29:30]

Rhea emphasizes the importance of execution over perfection, urging aspiring consultants to take the plunge despite uncertainties.

“Don't overthink things. Sometimes it can be messy. It's never going to go exactly the way that you planned.”
— Rhea Wong [30:03]

Connect with Amber Buck Hamilton

For those interested in seeking Amber's expertise in fundraising consultancy, you can reach her at:

Website: www.thinkleasedevelopment.com

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This episode offers a comprehensive look into the challenges and triumphs of transitioning from nonprofit employment to consulting, providing actionable insights for nonprofits professionals contemplating similar moves.

Transcript

[Rhea Wong]

Hey you, it's Rhea Wong. If you're listening to nonprofit Load on, I'm pretty sure that you'd love my weekly newsletter. Every Tuesday morning, you get updates on the newest podcast episodes. And then interspersed, we have fun special invitations for newsletter subscribers only and fundraising inspo because I know what it feels like to be in the trenches alone. On top of that, you get cute dog photos. Best of all, it is free. So what are you waiting for? Head over to riawong.com now to sign.

Up Foreign.

Welcome to nonprofit Lowdown. I'm your host, Rhea Wong.

Hey podcast listeners, it's Rhea Wong with you once again with nonprofit Lowdown. Today I am chatting with my friend and former student Amber Buck Hamilton, who was a longtime fundraiser and is now the founder of Fig Leaf Development. So she hung out her shingles, she's running her own shop. And so we're going to talk about all the things today. So, Amber, welcome to the show.

[Amber Buck Hamilton]

Maria, thanks so much for having me. I love that. I am your former student. It's so good to be with you today.

[Rhea Wong]

I love working, you know, and I have to be honest with you, when I work with folks like you, I always have a little bit of imposter syndrome. Do I even know anything? What can I possibly teach Amber that she doesn't already know?

[Amber Buck Hamilton]

So many things. So many things. I think we'll get into this, but one of the things that I really loved about working with you and going through the program was the community that you built and just the opportunity to bounce ideas off of and test things off of other people. And I don't know, I learned plenty.

[Rhea Wong]

Oh, I'm so glad. It's so good to hear. I respect you. I think you are such a, an expert in your own right. I was like, oh, it's always nice to know I can be a value add. All right, friend, let's jump into it because I know we want to talk about all the things. You are a lifelong non profit fundraiser, passionate about the cause and I don't know, you're doing what a lot of folks have been doing recently where you're just stepping out and doing your own thing. And so you're almost, almost a two. Two years old.

[Amber Buck Hamilton]

Almost two.

[Rhea Wong]

Almost two years old. You're in the terrible twos. So I'm just curious, why did you decide to transition out? Because I know, I hear a lot of people, they whisper to me, like, I think, like thinking about going out on my own. From thinking about it to pulling the trigger, there's feels Like a big jump. So talk to me about your origin story here.

[Amber Buck Hamilton]

Yeah, you're right. It is a big decision to jump out, and it wasn't one that I made lightly, but it was something that I felt called to do. I love fundraising. It was something that I pursued. After college, I got the opportunity to intern with an organization in Los Angeles through the Getty Museum. And I got paired with this incredible fundraiser. And I thought, oh, my gosh, wait a minute. This is a job. This is something I can do. I can talk to people about organizations and why they're meaningful. I think the impact and help them see where their dogs will make an influence. And unlike many folks who fall into it, it's something that I pursue. And so it's something that brings me joy. And I knew as I was starting to think about what's this next step for me, that I wanted to be able to share that joy and that passion with folks who maybe didn't have the capacity, maybe didn't have the experience in fundraising. And so that really led me to think about stepping out of doing the work full time within an organization to really wanting to do it in capacity for other people. Because I knew something that, like, it's a purpose driven by the work on its own. I also have three kids, and at the time that I was thinking about stepping out, my daughter was one. And I think that might be a time for some folks who are like, I'm not stepping out of my job. Not a good opportunity, good time. I take a leap of faith. But another thing that I found, family is really important to me. I've got an important value. I had kids because I want to spend time with them. I want to see them, I want to enjoy and watch them grow. And I felt working full time as a chief External officer, I was constantly pushing them away. Oh, my gosh, I have to write this. One more email. Mommy a second to finish drafting this grant. Let me finish reviewing this thing. And found myself seeing no. And pushing them away more and more. Started to feel really guilty about that and ugly and like I wasn't aligning with what I care about and so obviously deeply care about fundraising and doing it at organizations that matter. But the priority of my family matters more. And so I knew that by stepping out, I would be able to give myself the opportunity to have more economy over my life, but still do this thing from a professional perspective that I really love. It was important for me to honor my family and honor myself, too. Yeah, a lot of us who are considering stepping out are exhausting. Yep.

[Rhea Wong]

For sure.

[Amber Buck Hamilton]

I think we get. A lot of us have had the experience of getting just an impossible fundraising goal that you're expected to hit. Not always with grace. Understanding of what that entails or even listening, hey, this just isn't possible. We don't have the people, we don't have the setup for this yet. And so that feeling alone, tired of.

[Rhea Wong]

It's funny you mentioned it because actually, from anyone who's listening to the podcast, we just did an episode a little while ago with Evan Waldstein and Michelle Rin about the burnout factor and the fact that they said 7 out of 10 nonprofit people have said that they're actively looking for a new job. Man, we can't hold on to our people because of these almost impossible situations that we put them in with really big goals and not a lot of support. And so we're asking people to essentially delay, deliver on these results on the back of their own family life or their own well being. And I just, I think it's going to be a hard way for this sector to move forward if this is what we're doing.

[Amber Buck Hamilton]

I think you're so right and some of it, too. And one of the reasons why I started Big Leap was I can say from experience that when you step into an organization with such a high goal and expectation for fundraising, you need to have some structures and some systems in place. There are people who had the experience of being able to go out and actually secure the funds to be able to do that work.

[Rhea Wong]

Yeah.

[Amber Buck Hamilton]

Otherwise they find themselves trying to, like, clean things up, figure out who and when it'd be last year with this person and take them away from the thing they're passionate about, which is like actually going out and securing the funding itself. And so one of the things that I love doing is helping people set up that structure.

[Rhea Wong]

Yeah.

[Amber Buck Hamilton]

How can you make sure that when you bring someone in, they can actually do their best?

[Rhea Wong]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Amber Buck Hamilton]

You onboard them thoughtfully. Make it clear, here's what you need to hit and do along the way. Yeah, they can do that. Because I think that's also a big reason why people leave is because they walk into a hot mess.

[Rhea Wong]

Yes.

[Amber Buck Hamilton]

Once they do, this is not what I was going to be spending my time on.

[Rhea Wong]

The irony is, I think a lot of times people are put into that position because they managed to pull a rabbit out of a hat.

[Amber Buck Hamilton]

Right.

[Rhea Wong]

And then it's cool. Amber pulled this rabbit out of a hat. So obviously she didn't need all this support because she managed to do it. It's almost. Wait. I feel like I'm being punished for the fact that I performed a fricking miracle out here. And now you are out here thinking that miracles are commonplace. That's not actually. That's not how that works.

[Amber Buck Hamilton]

Yeah. There's, like, unrealistic expectations, and it's okay for things to be messy, but I do think it's in an organization's best interest to try to fix some of that before you come in and expect somebody also to do a job that's going to be really challenging. Maybe to me, definitely from a fundraising perspective.

[Rhea Wong]

And one thing I will say, and I think this is just my own personal pet peeve, is once I stepped out of the nonprofit sector, I'm like, oh, wait a second, hold on. There are these companies out here who are spending a lot of money on their sales teams and on their marketing teams because they understand that it takes money to make money. And I think what we see in our sector is like, when times are tough, we pull back on things like marketing and fundraising and development capacity. I'm like, but actually, shouldn't we be doubling down on that? Because don't we actually need more of that in tough times?

[Amber Buck Hamilton]

We do. We do. Yeah. I think this can sometimes be a really undervalued profession. Folks don't totally understand all that thought and intentionality that goes behind making an ask of someone. Right. Not just being in front of somebody and. Really?

[Rhea Wong]

Yeah. I mean, just ask in front of all these people. Yeah, for sure.

[Amber Buck Hamilton]

I think the best fundraisers and the best kind of leaders who are doing fundraising work, deeply thoughtful and relationship driven and also systematic in their approach to how they do things. Right?

[Rhea Wong]

Yeah.

[Amber Buck Hamilton]

Yeah.

[Rhea Wong]

But I will say, too, and I'll stop beating up on this actor because they've already been beaten up enough. But I do think that the way that we have set things up really makes people transactional.

[Amber Buck Hamilton]

Right.

[Rhea Wong]

Because when you have boards or you have leaders and look, I'll say guilty as charged. Because I'm thinking like, we gotta make next quarter, we gotta make our end of year goals. All of a sudden you start to see people as walking ATMs and you're like, okay, what do I gotta do to send that email to get them to do the thing that I want them to do? Which feels really antithetical to why a lot of us got into the field in the first place.

[Amber Buck Hamilton]

That's so true. Yeah. It's like these deadlines, these goals push you away from me to where your values are and what you know is going to be motivating to people. And the thing I'm constantly, like, pushing clients to think about is, like, how would you want somebody to bring you in?

[Rhea Wong]

Yeah.

[Amber Buck Hamilton]

Really struggling to get your board to do something. If someone asks you to do this, what would you need to be true in order to feel comfortable doing it? Yo. So now that I'm thinking about this way, I might also feel weird about just messaging all my friends without having ever have opportunity for them to get to know the organization. So let me think differently about how I might support them in bringing folks in.

[Rhea Wong]

That's right. But it's so funny when we. I don't know what it is, but we're, I don't know, thoughtful and intentional when we do things, like we're serving the clients that we serve. Right. But somehow we turn off the human part of the brain when it comes to our donors. And, like, they're not aliens. Like, they are human beings. They want to be treated like they're human beings. And for a lot of people, I think it clicks from when I put it in a dating context. I'm like, like, I'm sorry. So would you be out here asking someone to marry you after a first date? That would be weird. And they're like, oh, yeah, yeah. Like, it's not different. It's not different. Okay, let's dig into it, because I know this is a little bit different than my normal episodes because I want people to stay in the sector. However, I know that there are people who are really looking to maybe try their hand, step out into entrepreneurship. Let's get into the dirty details, because I know when I did myself, it really wasn't intentional. I, like, picked up a couple projects thinking that I could just bring in some money while I was looking for my next job. And frankly, like, the next job, like, I would look at JD's. I'm like, I 0% want to do any of this. None of the JD. I was like, Ugh. I would look at these JDs and, like, I would shoot myself in the head. I cannot with this. However, it was also counterbalanced by this fear of, oh, my God, what if I do this and nobody hires me? I end up. I don't know. For whatever reason, I was always, like, living in a box by the side of a river with a bunch of cats. I don't even have cats, so I'm like, I don't know. But it was like this. I was like, I'm going to have to eat cat food. I'm going to be home. Like, all of the things.

[Amber Buck Hamilton]

Yeah.

[Rhea Wong]

I was like, what is the worst possible scenario? And. And then I, like, took a breath and I was like, okay, worst case scenario is I would have to move back in with my parents, which is actually, like, worse than the living by the box, by the river scenario. But I'm just curious, like, for you, did you go through that? Did you go through all of the scenarios?

[Amber Buck Hamilton]

Oh, my gosh. So many scenarios. Similar story. So I. I remember starting to feel dissatisfied in my role, and a lot of it was because of my values, not specific to the organization. It was just, okay. I know what I care about and how I want to be spending my time. And I know it's important to me to spend time with family, but it's really important to me to feel like I'm adding value. And particularly I wanted to feel like I was adding more value for people who look like me and for me. And I had thought that I wanted to be a development consultant down the road. I had imposter syndrome. It was okay once I reached this point. I've been using this for 30 years. Then people will trust me to do the thing.

[Rhea Wong]

Yeah.

[Amber Buck Hamilton]

And to sit with myself and say, wait a minute, I've been doing this for 15 years. I love it. I've been successful. Why can't I do this now? And so some of it was like that, self talk and self coaching. But I also had a friend who was an executive director, a black male executive director, who had started calling me and asking me for fundraising advice. I don't know how to do this thing. I'm trying to figure this and this out. What do you think? And I was so happy to pick up his calls and talk to him for free. And I realized there are lots of other people, similar profiles to this ET who are incredible. What they're doing is beautiful, the way they move, and they're just like their vision for impacts. And I think their excitement about getting more people involved is something that I really admire. But they don't always have the capacity or the skill set focused on fundraising, and we're holding them back. And so let me see if he'd actually pay me.

[Rhea Wong]

Yeah.

[Amber Buck Hamilton]

To do some stuff for him. And he did, and I loved it. And then he paid me to do the next thing. Yeah, the next thing. And then as I, like, started to tell people about this one thing, light up and talk about how exciting it was, another opportunity came my way. And so I was still in my role, but I was starting to get A chance to do these kind of side projects and see what I thought, is this something one I enjoy doing. Okay. Now I'm also getting some evidence that maybe this is something I can sustain.

[Rhea Wong]

Yep.

[Amber Buck Hamilton]

And I decided like, all right, what's the threshold? So luckily my husband is like gainfully employed and does well and was super supportive. Right. Because I've talked to people who are like, I'm single.

[Rhea Wong]

Yeah. I don't have the safety net. Yeah. Yeah.

[Amber Buck Hamilton]

And so they're asking me for advice and the first thing I say is, I have somebody. Like he has health insurance. There are some I didn't have to think about.

[Rhea Wong]

Yep.

[Amber Buck Hamilton]

And I also had his full support to really step out.

[Rhea Wong]

Oh yeah. Shut up.

[Amber Buck Hamilton]

And so those were some of the conditions that made it easier for me to take a bet on myself.

[Rhea Wong]

Yep.

[Amber Buck Hamilton]

In C. But I had those Junes day thoughts day. And honestly what I decided when I stepped out was like, I love her. My daughter, youngest daughter goes to daycare. It's hella expensive because daycare is crazy. And so I was like, I can afford to keep her in her daycare. Like if my job can just pay for that.

[Rhea Wong]

Yeah.

[Amber Buck Hamilton]

Then it will be worth it because I'll have more time, autonomy, the ability to be creative and just take more leadership in my life but still make sure that I'm not changing and disrupting my kids life because I'm doing.

[Rhea Wong]

Yeah.

[Amber Buck Hamilton]

I made those decisions and also just talked to a lot of people.

[Rhea Wong]

Yeah.

[Amber Buck Hamilton]

To get their work. Which was helpful.

[Rhea Wong]

Yeah. Let me pause you because I feel like you said so many insightful things. I want to make sure that people don't miss it. So one, I think experimentation is really important because you can be like, look, let me just try. No one's saying that it has to be like fully in or fully out. Right. It's like you can have a job and start to dabble and take on projects, see if you would like it. Right. So that's one, two I think. And this is certainly where I started. Where you start is not where you end. So at the beginning I took on projects I would never do today because I know I don't enjoy it. But I took on things like HR projects and strategy projects. I did it. I was like, that's not for me. That's okay. Because I, I do think as women we have this idea of, oh, there's some like ledger in the sky where someone is grading us in. And if we're not like A plus gold star every day, we're going to get in trouble. At least that's what I think. And then the third, which I think is really important, that you said is you gain confidence in the doing. Right. It's not like any of us busted out of, like, all right, I'm going to do this. And I knew all the things. Like, it. It feels, see, like we're learning as we go. I can't even tell you how many YouTube videos I watch on, like, all right, how do you, like, create a consulting proposal or whatever? Or, like, how do you do marketing? So I just. If anyone is out here thinking that somehow there's going to be some day where you're going to know everything and feel confident and not fall on your face a couple times, that day is never going to happen. It's always going to be a little bit messy, a little confusing, and ups and downs. And honestly, I've been doing this now, gosh, seven years. And even after seven years, there are days where I'm like, what am I doing? Do I even know what I'm doing? Maybe I don't know anything. And so there's this emotional roller coaster that you go through as an entrepreneur, and still there's no amount of money you could pay for me to go back in house.

[Amber Buck Hamilton]

Yeah. And I imagine your experience as an ED probably helped you with that too, right? Where you're like, I'm leaving this whole thing. Like, sometimes you're like, listen, Matthew, I wasn't anticipating that, but you got experience of, okay, but I'm still doing it. I'm doing it well. I'm learning.

[Rhea Wong]

Yeah.

[Amber Buck Hamilton]

This type of work is perfect for people who are okay with that kind of discomfort and they'll like, yeah, I'm excited about learning. Like, sometimes I'm going to fail at things, but I'm only going to get better as a result. Because it happens a lot.

[Rhea Wong]

Yeah.

[Amber Buck Hamilton]

And it's also just helpful to have community and you can lead into when those things happen. Like, somebody just asked me to send them a proposal. This happened to me early and I'm like, I don't. I said yes. And my friend was like, I have a template for you. You. Yeah, save me so much time.

[Rhea Wong]

Yeah.

[Amber Buck Hamilton]

And so I think also not expecting your yourself to have all the answers. I think a lot of us really believe there's enough out there to be a fundraising consultant and to do well for sure. And so I'm never like, oh, I'm not going to share this with you. I'm not going to tell you now.

[Rhea Wong]

I refer people business all the time.

[Amber Buck Hamilton]

You do. I think that abundance mindset is also really important to have because there is plenty to do.

[Rhea Wong]

The other day I was like, I am always going to have a job because there is no world in which people are ever going to feel like they have fundraising completely figured out. And I'm not saying I do either. Right. Let me be clear. I'm not arrogant enough to be like, I know all the things, but I think in particular, fundraising feels confusing to people or they feel like they don't really know what to do. And therefore, like, you and I will always have work.

[Amber Buck Hamilton]

Yeah, we've done this in some episode. I'm a real world podcast.

[Rhea Wong]

Oh, yay.

[Amber Buck Hamilton]

I remember you saying this in an episode, and it really stuck with me. I thought about it this way, which is we live in a country where the social structures and system, those don't exist. Non profits fulfill that need, and they're always going to need money to make money. Therefore, you and I will always have some organization that will need our type of support. Because there's not free childcare for everyone.

[Rhea Wong]

No, I know. Or like, everyone's not getting, like, housing and don't give me all of all the things.

[Amber Buck Hamilton]

So we should. Abundance mindset, I think, is really helpful. And I can promise you that by giving, you will receive and you're just and better about yourself and your wallet. Anyway.

[Rhea Wong]

Yeah. The one thing I will say, and I'm curious if this has happened to you, like, for some reason, when I ran my nonprofit, even though honestly, the stakes were way higher because I was responsible for people's salaries, it didn't feel as risky. I think in part because I had other folks helping me. I had a board, I had a development team, et cetera. But also, there was something about representing an organization versus representing myself. And so when I was representing an org, I don't know, it just felt okay. I can talk about the work, I can talk about all these things. When it comes to selling my own services, there is always this aspect of, if you don't sign up, are you rejecting me? If it starts to be a little bit personal? And so for me, the. The thing I have to watch out for is always, okay, this is not personal. It's just not for them. This has nothing to do with you. They're not saying they hate you. They're not saying that you're incompetent. Like, I play the tape of all of the gremlins in my head, oh, my God, they hate me. They're talking about me.

[Amber Buck Hamilton]

Everyone.

[Rhea Wong]

Nobody's thinking about you. They're just saying it's not for them.

[Amber Buck Hamilton]

Oh, yeah, it's like that. I don't know. I butcher these things, but it's like, what's meant for me is for me, like, it finds you. And so that's the approach that I take whenever someone said no is okay. For some reason, this was probably just not the opportunity that maybe wasn't the right opportunity for right now. Or similarly, like, it's not a personal thing. Sometimes people want a big firm to handle their business as opposed to someone with maybe one or two team members. Or maybe you were talking to them and you were going to say yes to supporting. But, like, deep down, whatever they were asking you to do, you weren't that excited about. When you're operating from a place of fear, let me just book this next thing as opposed to. Let me put my time and the energy into something that's passionate. And so I feel like there's some guidance that I get sometimes moments about helping me stay true to, like, where I want to be spending my time. And.

[Rhea Wong]

Yeah, you know what? I'm just going to chime in here. I know I'm from California, so I can be very. But it's almost like fundraising in the sense that the energy has to feel right. I don't know if you've.

[Amber Buck Hamilton]

Yes.

[Rhea Wong]

I do think sometimes, especially when things get a little tight, I'm like, I do feel this pressure to say yes because I'm like, I just need money in the door. And look, I'm not going to say that there aren't some times where, like, you do just need money in the door. But I do think when we're guided by our intuition and is this the right thing? Is this the right project? Do I feel like this is going to be the best use of my time and energy? Sometimes saying no is the best thing. It is.

[Amber Buck Hamilton]

Because I think so often if you're doing this, if you're taking this leap of faith and stepping out on your own, it's because you actually have a really clear vision of what you want for your life and what you want to give. And so when you step outside of.

[Rhea Wong]

It, you're always like, yeah, there's this heavy. You're like, it's like that donor you don't want to talk to. You're like, I know a lot of money, but.

[Amber Buck Hamilton]

Right. And I think we do sometimes. I definitely made that. Made that call before where I said yes, and then I was like, yeah.

[Rhea Wong]

I call it the yes. Damn. Like, yes, damn it.

[Amber Buck Hamilton]

And it'll happen early, Right?

[Rhea Wong]

Like, those are.

[Amber Buck Hamilton]

Because you're still figuring things out too. Okay, what do I actually want to spend? What are the things that, like, please don't ask you to do, but I'm happy to refer you to someone else who loves doing this work. And I do think you want to give yourself some grace to test it out and see sometimes we also be surprised. So I never thought that I would do fractional support was really not getting embedded because I didn't want it to take up a lot of time. But I. One of my first roles when I stepped in full time to consulting was as a fractional fundraiser for an organization. I loved it. Oh, my gosh. Because I could do spending time with people and there was a management aspect to it. And you actually really got to see things through which I appreciated. And if I hadn't said yes to that, I might not have ever realized that it is something that I enjoy with the right, like, organization and with the right group of people. And yeah.

[Rhea Wong]

And look, I think to go back to the earlier point, there is some experimentation, especially in the early days. You're like, I don't know what I like yet. I don't know what I'm good at. I don't know what's going to light me up. So sometimes you do have to say yes to things that maybe I think maybe I might not like broccoli. Turns out I like. The other thing I'll say to you is, and I don't want to out anyone. So a good friend of mine who is also a consultant in this space, I think the thing that she talks about is her big fear of leaving money on the table and how that fear will get her to say yes to things that really she should not be saying yes to. And I feel that too, because I think a lot of us are. I've talked about money trauma before, right? Coming from a scarcity mindset of, oh, if I don't grab the money now, it may never come around again, or if I say no to this, no one's ever going to ask me again. Or so I guess. Is that something you struggle with? What would you say to that?

[Amber Buck Hamilton]

100% it's something, right? It's really. It can be really difficult to not operate from a place of fear. I will say one thing that has helped is so early on, right. Remember, my threshold was, oh, I just need to make enough money to pay for my daughter's daycare. I was fortunate in this first year I could do that. And Then, Right?

[Rhea Wong]

Yep.

[Amber Buck Hamilton]

You're still feeling nervous about saying no to things. Even though I knew in my art, like, that I was in a good financial position with Fig Leaf. And so I had what. But I wasn't doing it, like, the most structured way. And what I realized was, why don't I have a funding map for myself? Right? Like, why don't I have revenue and projection tool that I'm creating for my clients to make sure they know where they are in terms of what their goal is and what they want to have? I had some weird back of the notepad type thing going on. Literally your job. I don't know why you're not going.

[Rhea Wong]

Yeah, yeah. It's like cobblers. Children have no shoes. Right? You're like, I can do this for everybody else, just not for myself, not for me.

[Amber Buck Hamilton]

And then as soon as I created literally my own funding map, I was what I have and what I'm projected to bring in for the end of the year. So whenever I feel nervous about saying no to an opportunity or can I do this other opportunity? Like, where does this fit? Having that was really grounding. Right. We have a lot of the tools, and sometimes we just need to, like, actually apply them in our business life and not just in our fundraising life.

[Rhea Wong]

Yeah, for sure. There's so many things, but I know we have to wind down because we don't have all the time in the world, but. Last couple questions for you. What do you feel like has been the most valuable lesson learned for you thus far? You're still relatively early on in your consulting life, but for folks out here listening and taking inspiration, what's the thing that you wish everyone knew?

[Amber Buck Hamilton]

Oh, I'm going to say two things. One, I think community build. Keep your community and make sure that you are, like, staying connected with people and having a home for some of the things that maybe you're worried about and a place where you could continue to build. Because being a consultant can be isolating to a degree. And so I just have found that to you. The other thing that I think is important is to really keep that abundance, mindset and center for yourself and align that with your values. Remind yourself why you started. Stay true it. And then trust.

[Rhea Wong]

Yeah.

[Amber Buck Hamilton]

You have the integrity, the responsibility, the care to see it through and to be successful. And I think that with those things, you will be.

[Rhea Wong]

Yeah. Just said something to me earlier today that I've been thinking about and I think is really true for me, which is the following, that when we think about success, 20% of it is tactical strategy. And 80% is your mindset. Like, and ever since I really started approaching my business as just, like, a game that I want to win, then it became less personal and became less emotional. I was just like, okay, that didn't work. Let's try the different tactics. It's like, when you're playing a video game, how do you beat the big boss? You're like, all right, well, that firepower didn't work. Let's try this other thing. And when you approach it with that kind of mentality, it's just a puzzle that you're solving. It becomes less emotional.

[Amber Buck Hamilton]

Yeah. It's not personal. Right. All the things that you beat yourself up over make lift. Let me think about it that way. Makes sense.

[Rhea Wong]

Okay. I have one last question for you, and then I. And then we'll transition. But if people are out here listening, they're like, amber, I'm here for it. I want to do all the things. How did you get started? What was that first step to be like, okay, I'm moving from dabbling to actually doing this.

[Amber Buck Hamilton]

Yeah. One it was getting really clear on, like, the purpose and who I wanted to support and how I thought I.

[Rhea Wong]

Wanted to support folks.

[Amber Buck Hamilton]

But for me, zeroing in on. I don't want to add capacity for leaders of color was really clear for me. Right. The helmet. Who should I be talking to? What are the types of materials and resources? Like, all of that was helpful, and I ended up creating a website, which I don't think people need to do right away. But the person that I worked with to create my website really helped me clarify my goal. Right. Because it was. She just had this, like, deep level of questions that allowed me to get even clearer on that. Then I think it's like, you have to start talking to people.

[Rhea Wong]

Yeah.

[Amber Buck Hamilton]

I'm doing this thing. And you'll be surprised how quickly things start to come and give you an opportunity to step out and do them. And then you just start doing it.

[Rhea Wong]

Yeah. I think that's the thing, too. Don't overthink things. Right. Sometimes it can be messy. It's never going to go exactly the way that you planned. But you could spend your whole life planning and never executing. So get. Send that email. I always counsel people, like, create that email. Here are the three things I can help you with. Send it to your whole network.

[Amber Buck Hamilton]

Yeah. Yeah. And that can be true, too. Even with a proposal, like, some of the things that you might get in your head about proposals and things like that. Sometimes you can actually just email somebody back and say, here's what this would look like.

[Rhea Wong]

Yep.

[Amber Buck Hamilton]

If you want to get started, here's what you should do and keep it moving. Some people need all of that, but not everyone does. And those can be pretty time consuming anyway, if it works and you have data. Right. To use to inform. And I think that's the other thing. Like go for it. Test things out.

[Rhea Wong]

Yep.

[Amber Buck Hamilton]

Take the feedback in change and shift as you go. I think the other thing that's really important as a consultant is to be consistent.

[Rhea Wong]

Yes.

[Amber Buck Hamilton]

Big thing. Right. It's like really be consistent in how you communicate with people because you're the one. Someone told me this. They were like, when you go to meetings as a consultant, like you are the one leading the meeting. It's your meeting.

[Rhea Wong]

Yeah.

[Amber Buck Hamilton]

Get sit down and be like, so what are we doing today?

[Rhea Wong]

Totally. All right. Folks are out here. They're listening to you. They're either thinking about stepping out on their own or they're nonprofit folks who could use your support. Where can we find information about working with one Ms. Amber Buck Hamilton?

[Amber Buck Hamilton]

Hi. Thanks for that. So my business Think Week development and you can find me at www.thinkleasedevelopment.com and.

[Rhea Wong]

I'll make sure to put the info in the show notes if you want to talk with Amber and get some support with fundraising. So Amber, thank you for being on the show and thanks for the inspo for folks who are out here listening.

[Amber Buck Hamilton]

I appreciate it. Thanks so much.

[Rhea Wong]

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